Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, like the other allegorical poems attributed to the poet Gawain, can be read as an allegorical tale of sin and redemption in Christian Terms. That the poem has strong Christian underpinnings is beyond doubt, especially given the elaborate use of Christian symbols such as the pentagram, Christian oaths, blessings, and frequent references to Christ, Mary, various saints, Christmas, and other holidays. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The poet Gawain uses Romantic material subversively to foreground the larger reality of human fallibility and the need for redemption through repentance. Gawain allegorically represents Everyman to the extent that he undergoes the real internal conflict between normal human weaknesses and the rigorous moral values that he is called to follow and uphold, and ultimately demonstrates his human dignity by recognizing the reality of his human condition rather than the superhuman image projected in romantic stories. The world of Arthurian romance is governed by chivalric ideals derived from the Christian concept of morality. These ideals are brought together in Gawain's symbolic shield, with the pentagram representing the five virtues of the knights: friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy and piety; the five wounds that Christ received on the cross; the five joys that the Virgin Mary had in Jesus (Annunciation, Nativity, Resurrection, Ascension and Assumption). The side of the shield facing Gawain contains an image of the Virgin Mary to ensure Gawain never loses heart. In Camelot on New Year's Day, the Feast of the Circumcision, Arthur awaits a wonder or a wonderful story. He and his courtiers seem ironically to overlook the miraculous events of the season and are enraptured by the splendor of celebrations that seem only vaguely linked to the religious motif that should inspire them - when suddenly the Green Knight appears, as if wanting to stage a reversal of the paschal phase of Jesus' ministry, violent death and resurrection that threatens to bring Gawain death without hope of redemption or resurrection. The Green Knight's intrusion into the court is sufficiently motivated by the conventions of the poet's chosen genre: since Arthur awaits a wonder and Sir Gawain is a love story, a wonder will happen. But the intrusion of the Green Knight also has a very strong Christian motivation: the transition from piety to materialism and pride is immediately followed by a supernatural reproach, a mortal challenge and a grotesque death and resurrection. Later, when Gawain suddenly and unexpectedly stumbles upon the castle of the Green Knight/Bertilak, the event is similarly overdetermined: the romance genre allows, indeed requires, that a knight wandering in the forest "happens" at the castle where a quest will take place . waits for him; yet the fact that Gawain called on Jesus and Mary to help him find lodgings so he could celebrate Christmas Mass, prayed, lamented his sins and crossed himself three times, when suddenly the castle appears, again it makes sense. The religious motivation is really very strong. At Sir Bertilak's castle Gawain is offered a second game to play in addition to his match with the Green Knight. Every night Gawain must give what he receives that day to Bertilak and in return he will receive from Bertilak the spoils of the hunt in the forest. While Bertilak is in the forest, Gawain must face the seductive advances of Bertilak's wife. According to the chivalric code he must oblige her, but what happens if his requests conflict with the..
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